Dr. Fatemeh Hosseini is the Director of Engaged Scholarship and Pedagogy at the CSJ and Assistant Research Professor at Georgetown University. As a historian of gender and sexuality, her primary focus is on working-class women who worked inside and outside of red-light districts in urban vice centers. She explores how cultural and social attitudes shape policy and the lived experiences of sex workers. As an educator, she has taught broadly on the intersection of desire, sex, and commerce globally and worked with and advised students at New York University, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and the University of Maryland, College Park. Her advocacy and policy experience has been shaped by work with individuals involved in the sex trade and with immigrant survivors of gender-based and intimate-partner violence. She is occupied with how knowledge can be created and enhanced by engagement with local communities. She brings her experience in teaching, academic administration, and community engagement to CSJ. Ultimately, she is invested in and energized by how highly-selective institutions of higher education can leverage their resources and knowledge to support, sustain, and heal marginalized and local communities.
Akanksha Sinha
Research Associate, CSJ & Earth Commons
Akanksha, or AK, serves as a Research Associate with the CSJ and the Earth Commons, working directly with the Alternative Breaks Programs. They are a graduate of Georgetown University with a major in Culture and Politics, and minors in Philosophy and Spanish. Within their major, their concentration was Post-Colonial Politics and Literature, which included racial, class-based, and gender-based analyses of global power dynamics, and the many ramifications of colonialism, such as today’s environmental crisis. Akanksha has grown up in India, and approaches their work with immigration, diaspora, caste oppression and internationalism as critical lenses for equitable action. In this position, AK supports the inculcation of anti-colonial and anti-racist sustainability pedagogies into CSJ programming and in Earth Commons initiatives. AK’s previous work experience has centered on culturally-sustainable education and education equity, and they continue this work as a volunteer and communications coordinator at College Access for Non-Citizens (link: https://linktr.ee/collegeaccessnoncitizens).
Formerly serving Georgetown University’s Center for Social Justice as a Graduate Intern (JGI) with the Operations Team, Hailely has joined the CSJ team full-time as Operations Assistant. She is passionate about research and education. Hailey is a dedicated HOYA who strives to make the Georgetown community more inclusive and equitable –– not only through her work with the CSJ but as a graduate student currently serving as a GradGov Senator on the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) committee. As a current student, she is pursuing her MA in Liberal Studies with a certification in Gender, Peace, and Security Studies (GIWPS), a year following her graduation from George Mason University (BA, Global Affairs –– Inequalities and Responses). Hailey believes that social justice must be ingrained in every step of the execution of the mission, starting with the Center’s operations. Leveraging her organization efforts, Hailey has spearheaded impact projects empowering marginalized communities while fostering sustainable development. She will hone that skill set to support the CSJ Team in executing their mission and expanding influence by promoting social equity, research, and learning in the Georgetown and DC communities.
Cheyenne Baltimore
Jumpstart Program Site Manager
Cheyenne Baltimore serves as the Jumpstart site manager overseeing Georgetown students as they serve in early learning schools in wards 7 and 8. She graduated from The George Washington University with a Bachelor of Arts in Human Services and Social Justice. Cheyenne is passionate about education equity and has worked as an early learning educator in many different capacities. Although not originally from the DMV area, Cheyenne has made great effort to be a part of the community since 2014. When she’s not working in the CSJ, you can find her trying the best food spots around the DMV.
Brionna Bolaños
DC Schools Project Program Manager
Brionna Bolaños serves as the inaugural Program Manager for the Center for Social Justices’s DC Schools Project. Prior to joining the CSJ team full-time, Brionna served as a JGI for DCSP. Brionna earned their bachelor’s degrees in International Relations and Feminist, Gender, and Sexuality Studies at Stanford University, where they studied at the intersection of race and gender. Brionna is currently a master’s student in the Latin American Studies Program at Georgetown and is pursuing a graduate certificate in Gender, Peace, and Security with the Georgetown Institute for Women, Peace, and Security. As a first-generation college student and a second-generation immigrant, Brionna is passionate about ensuring access and equity in higher education.
Dr. Shankar is an anthropologist, critical pedagogue, and mediamaker whose work falls into three broad areas. First, he is concerned with the politics of help and its role in upholding systems of racial capitalism. In his book, Brown Saviors and their Others (new window) (new window)(Duke, 2023), he takes India’s burgeoning help economy, specifically the education NGO sector, as a site from which to interrogate these ideas. He shows how colonial, racial, and caste formations undergird how transnational and digitized NGO work is done in India today. Second, he is a visual anthropologist and ethnographic filmmaker who has been interested in developing decolonial, participatory visual methodologies. He has primarily focused on the neocolonial politics of representation, global circulation, and reception of the “impoverished” and “suffering” child figure and offers new multimodal methods as alternatives to these paradigms. He is also interested in multimodal evaluation and publishing, asking questions regarding the possibilities that might accompany non-textual knowledge production. Towards this end, he is a current editor with the multimodal section of American Anthropologist. Third, he is an advocate for Curiosity Studies (new window) (new window), an emerging interdisciplinary field which challenges us to think anew about scholarly production, pedagogic praxis, and the political role of the academician. Arjun asks: what might a radical curiosity make possible and what political, economic, and social constraints prevent the flourishing of curiosity? Most recently, he is excited about his work as a founding member of Bol (new window) (new window), a D.C.-based worker-owned bookstore (Insta: bol_coop). Through this project he brings together his commitments to global economic and racial justice, and community building in D.C.
Blaythe Ayala serves as the Assistant Director, Student Organizations and Leadership at the Center for Social Justice. In her role, Blaythe is responsible for connecting Georgetown students to service and social justice opportunities through student organizations. She also oversees the work and leadership development of CSJ’s Advisory Board for Student Organizations (ABSO) and student organization leaders. Originally from Los Angeles, California, Blaythe received her B.A. in Political Science, B.A. in Social Welfare, and B.A. in Spanish from the University of California, Berkeley. After graduation, she worked as a program analyst for the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development in the Office of Policy Development and Research, where she researched educational supportive services for youth in public housing. While working, Blaythe earned her M.Ed in Education Leadership and Policy, focusing on serving the whole person through cross-sector collaboration at the federal level.
Lucia transitioned to the role of Operations Manager in February 2020. She originally joined the Center for Social Justice team as a Payroll and Van Administrator in October 2013. In that role, she ensured the efficient and timely payment of the approximately 300 student employees involved in CSJ’s community-based service activities. She also oversaw student van coordinators, managed monthly billing processes, and verified that vehicles are in compliance with state, leasing agent, and Georgetown policies and requirements. Now Lucia has broad administrative oversight of CSJ’s hiring, equipment rentals, space usage. She also supervises the Center Operations Interns (COIs). Lucia is originally from the Republic of Moldova and graduated with a degree in Romanian and English Literature from the University of Bucharest. Lucia began her career working for the US Peace Corps in Moldova, providing administrative and interpreting support to volunteers and Peace Corps staff. After immigrating to the United States, Lucia provided comprehensive administrative support in the private sector for nine years.
Lionell Daggs III
Associate Director, Racial Justice Initiatives Send a message
Lionell Daggs III serves as the inaugural Associate Director of Racial Justice Initiatives for the Center for Social Justice. Prior to joining the CSJ team, Lionell served as one the Assistant Directors of the Cultural Centers at the University of San Francisco (USF) where his work centered on supporting systematically marginalized student populations, with a primary focus on students of color, women, and LGBTQ students. Lionell also previously worked at an education non-profit organization California School-Age Consortium, which builds professional networks that provide training, leadership development and advocacy for out-of-school time professionals.
Lionell earned his bachelor’s degree in Psychology with a minor in Child and Youth Studies and a Master of Arts in Organization and Leadership at USF. His research interests include black feminism, feminist leadership, and social movements. His student affairs philosophy is oriented toward creating systemic change by utilizing his positionality and knowledge to uplift and support those around him and within his community. As a first-generation college student, he believes that all students with the right support and guidance can successfully navigate the higher education landscape.
LaMaria Glass (G’22)
Assistant Director, Youth Justice Programs Send a message
LaMaria Glass earned her Master’s in Educational Transformation at Georgetown University, concentrating in Advocacy and Policy. She graduated from the University of Virginia with a Bachelor of Science in Education, double majoring in Sociology and Youth & Social Innovation. LaMaria is passionate about youth and advocacy, and her ultimate goal is to advocate for students through education or for youth involved in the juvenile justice system. LaMaria has been involved with a number of organizations whose missions ranged from philanthropy to advocacy to centering first-generation college-bound students. LaMaria stays involved in her community, by working with youth or through her service with the Danville Alumnae Chapter of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Incorporated. Her leisure time is spent singing, reading, exercising, playing basketball, and enjoying family and friends.
Jessica Lee joined CSJ’s team as the DC Schools Project Program Director in July 2013 and transitioned to her current role in February 2020. Jessica is responsible for the oversight of the DC Schools Project which delivers English literacy skills support to children, youth, and adults of low-income, immigrant backgrounds in the DC area, focusing on providing direct support and advocacy for newcomer youth and their families through emergency family planning for deportation and broader policy advocacy work in coalition with local immigrant justice organizations. Jessica also serves as a lead facilitator on the Racial Justice Working Group for the CSJ team and on the Undocumented Students Advisory Task Force to support undocumented students on campus. Jessica is from Portland, Oregon, where she attended Lewis and Clark College and earned a BA in International Affairs and Foreign Languages. She attended the Monterey Institute of International Studies in Monterey, California for her Master’s in Public Administration, with a concentration on nonprofit management. She returned to Portland to work with the Asian Pacific American Network of Oregon on immigration, education, and health equity issues in Oregon’s communities of color. Previous to joining CSJ, Jessica worked as the Community Health and Service-Learning Coordinator at Georgetown Medical School. She is currently pursuing a Master’s in Educational Transformation at Georgetown.
Nicole Reeder currently serves as Assistant Director for Educational Equity. Nicole’s portfolio includes serving as the DC Reads and DC STEM program director, supervising the Jumpstart Site Manager position and program, and broad support of education programming and advocacy at CSJ. Nicole comes to this role after previously serving as CSJ’s Jumpstart Site Manager. Prior to Georgetown, Nicole spent four years in New Orleans building capacity in Greater New Orleans non-profit organizations by supporting Tulane University AmeriCorps VISTA members through their year of service. Nicole is from Newport News, Virginia, and is a proud First Generation graduate from Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) with a Bachelor of Science in Psychology degree. She is currently pursuing her Master of Social Work with a specialization in Children, Youth, and Families at George Mason University.
Ray Shiu serves as the Deputy Director of the Center for Social Justice. He has been in this role since January 2020. In this role, he is responsible for the overall management of CSJ’s staff-run and student-run social justice, community-based engagement, including student development, community and university outreach, and fiscal and administrative management. Ray joined CSJ as Special Programs Coordinator in 2004 and later served as Program Director for Student Leadership and Special Programs from 2006 to 2012 and CSJ’s Associate Director from 2012 to 2020. Originally from Modesto, CA, Ray received his BS in Genetics from the University of California, Davis, as a first-generation student. After graduation, he moved to New York City and worked as a program and financial officer at a research center at the Columbia University Business School. While in New York City, Ray earned his MA in Higher Education, with a concentration in academic and student development from Columbia University’s Teachers College.
Ray serves as a board member on two local nonprofits providing services to the unhoused community, Friendship Place and Georgetown Ministry Center. He also serves as a member of the advisory board for the GU School of Continuing Studies’ Higher Education Administration Master’s Program. Ray teaches a section of theMastering the Hidden Curriculum course with first-generation, low-income students at Georgetown.
Andria Wisler, Ph.D.
Executive Director and Teaching Professor, Justice and Peace Studies Email me at akw28 AT georgetown.edu
Dr. Andria Wisler became the Executive Director of the Center for Social Justice in January 2013. She first joined Georgetown University in Fall 2008 as a Visiting Assistant Professor for the Program on Justice and Peace (JUPS) and served as Director of that program from January 2011-December 2012. Andria received her Ph.D. in Comparative and International Education and Philosophy from Columbia University and master’s in International Educational Development and Peace Education from Teachers College. Her research and teaching are in the fields of peace education, conflict studies, and international educational development, and her principal interest lies in the transformative potential of educational initiatives in post-conflict societies and for girls living in urban poverty. After graduating from the University of Notre Dame, Andria began her vocation within education as a school teacher at an independent school, the Cornelia Connelly Center (CCC), which serves girls of working class families of the Lower East Side, New York City. She served as an invited member of the Board of Trustees of the CCC for six years (2008-2014) and re-joined the Board in Fall 2022.
At Georgetown, Andria has been involved in several campus initiatives and programs. She participated in the inaugural group of Doyle Fellows, a campus initiative on inclusion and diversity, the Engelhard Initiative, and in the Fall 2010 semester, Andria was a faculty-in-residence in Georgetown’s Alanya, Turkey study abroad/community living-and-learning program. Andria co-edited (with Celina Del Felice and Aaron Karako) Peace Education Evaluation (Information Age, 2015), a first of its kind resource of 20 chapters that reviews the trends and challenges in evaluation of peace education, presents case studies of programs around world, and offers ideas for methodological innovations.
